EPP puts illegal migration on top of its agenda

The European People's Party, the largest political grouping in the European Parliament, has placed the EU's fight against illegal immigration on top of its agenda for the rest of the year.

Addressing a briefing in Brussels at the end of the summer recess, EPP president Hans Gert Pottering said the southern Mediterranean member states have just witnessed another summer of immense problems and the EPP will be exerting pressure on the other EU institutions to ensure the issue is addressed with urgency.

He said the immigration situation in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic is a question for the entire EU to address. "If solidarity is the basis of all that the EU is about, then the EU must help the regions affected by this problem," he said.

Regarding the financial budget for dealing with immigration, Mr Pottering said that, as always, if there are new challenges that emerge, as in this case, then the money must be found to respond to them. "The question of mass illegal immigration is a new issue and the money must be allocated to it," he insisted.

He said the EPP would be pressing for more funds and discussions have already taken place with EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini.

Meanwhile, following talks in Helsinki and Brussels, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega announced that her country will soon be holding a mini-summit for seven Mediterranean countries affected by illegal immigration. The countries, including Malta, will be asked to put together a working paper on the patrol of joint maritime borders to be presented at December's EU summit.